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TD Buxx / TD Go
Following the death of the reloadable Nationwide Visa Buxx and U.S. Bank Visa Buxx, the TD Bank reloadable TD Go cards, TD's version of the Visa Buxx, still survives but in very limited form. Here are some of the details regarding a possible MS opportunity and some options available. About TD Go / TD Buxx TD Go is the reloadable Visa card product from TD Bank which was created primarily for parents to allow their children to use a pre-paid Visa card and control the amounts, view transactions, etc. Picture it as Allowance for the 21st century. So the "parent" creates a "parent account" that is essentially the administrator, and from that account you can create "teen cards" for each of your "teens" (the intended market), fund them from TD Bank issued credit cards (only, more on that later), and otherwise manage the accounts. Each of the "teens" above gets issued a Visa debit card with a chip and can be used just like any other Visa branded debit card with the exception of a cash-withdrawal limitation of $60/week. NW Buxx formerly allowed up to $200/week in withdrawals, so this changes the way we have to MS with this card. Why is this a good deal vs normal MS? Here are the loading fees/limits: * Initial purchase fee: $4.95 + $1 load fee * Max load per day: $500 * Max load per 7 days: $2,000 * Max load per rolling 30 days: $3,000 * Max per ATM withdraw: $60/week. (No fee at TD Bank.) * Max balance: $2,000 * Max spend per rolling 7 days: $2,000 * Max spend per rolling 30 days: $3,000 * Max load per funding TD CC (across multiple teens): $6,000 per 30 days * Limits are per teen card, not per master account So major hurdle #1 is that you can only fund this card with a TD Bank issued Credit Card. Logically that means you need to have a TD Bank credit card. More on that later. Hurdle #2 is a bit more significant - TD Buxx cards are only loadable when the funding TD Bank Credit Card has an address in a state that TD Bank has physical branches available - and that means NOT '''Louisiana. From the Visa Buxx thread at Flyertalk: States not supported: AL, AK, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FM, GA, GU, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, '''LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, MP, OH, OK, OR, PW, PR, SD, TN, TX, UT, VI, WA, WV, WI, WY To make that easier, states that ARE supported: CT, DE, FL, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA So what does that mean? You need to have an address in one of those supported states that you can use - a family member, a friend, some sort of accomplice you trust - to order the TD Buxx cards. If you can do that, then we can proceed with the overall outline of what to expect. Steps Required to MS with TD Buxx # Have an address in one of the supported East-coast states where you can receive mail (forwarded mail will NOT work for the cards, they will NOT forward per TD Bank) and trust the recipient to send them onward to you # Apply for and receive a TD Bank Credit Card of your Choice (ideally one with a good bonus!) # Once you receive your TD Bank CC, wait a couple days/week and call TD and tell them you're about to move and need to change your address. Give them the address in the supported state of your accomplice in Step 1 and wait a few days. Obviously, your name, their address. # Log into the TD Card Services website and confirm your address has been updated. Make sure you've signed up for Paperless Billing/Notices so that your poor friend doesn't get peppered with your mail. # Once that's confirmed, head over to TD Go's website and sign up for a parent account, and add no more than 2 teens when you first open the account. People have been shut down for adding too many accounts too quickly. Limit is 4-5 per account, each "teen" will require a separate SSN. These will not show on any credit report that we've been able to verify so far - but make sure you have their permission before getting a card in somebody's name. # Once the TD Go cards arrive, go on the website and fund them with your TD CC from #2. The amount you can load is limited by your TD CC's Cash Advance limit - all TD Go loads initially post as Cash Advances and then clear after 4 business days to a purchase. This limits you as you can only load up to your CA limit, and after that point will error out. If you have for example a CL of $5k, your CA will be $1500 (30% of CL is standard) and can only load $1500 at a time. Your CA will "reset" usually 1 business day after you pay your CC bill. # With your loaded TD Go teen cards, go buy some MOs and deposit into the bank of your choice. # Pay back your TD CC, rinse and repeat. The Math Let's use TD Aeroplan as our example, as it's the best miles-earning TD CC. Load: $1 fee for a $500 load, nets us 501 Aeroplan miles at 1 point per dollar. Liquidation: $0.59 at Winn-Dixie for a MO, $0.35 if at WalMart or Robert Fresh Market. Total cost: $1.35 (0.27cpp) or $1.59 (0.32cpp) for 501 Aeroplan Miles If we low-ball and estimate Aeroplan miles at 1.3 cpp, that's $6.50 in miles per $1.35/$1.59 spent, meaning a rebate of 75-80% off of cost on Aeroplan miles. Remember, MS isn't "free", it creates deeply discounted travel. So sure, you can find better deals, but paying 20-25% of retail for Aeroplan (and Star Alliance) flights isn't bad (but don't forget the fuel surcharges!). Keep in mind that you should always do your own math and make sure it works for you. Aeroplan is a transfer partner of both SPG (with the 25% bonus on transfers of multiples of 5k) and American Express Membership Rewards (which have much easier measures of accumulating points). Pros and Cons from cataphoresis So I've been using these cards for over a year or so and some thoughts: Pros: * These are official, actual bank-issued debit cards. They have your name on them. That means you should have no fear using these at even the stingiest places. Want to see my ID and debit? Here you go. Boom. Just be slick on the transition to the additional cards if you're doing more than 1 unload. * They auto-drain at WD, RFM, places with auto-draining. * I can load them from my couch, saving my CVS and Walgreens runs for more lucrative cards (OBC!) Cons: * TD Bank kinda sucks. The website sucks. There's no iOS/Android app to manage. * The turn-around is slow. A Buxx load will post instantly but sit as a pending CA for 2-4 days. Then it'll post and if you pay the bill that day, will take another 2-4 days for your CA limit to reset and payment to apply. Limits the velocity to about once per week * Some would feel nervous carrying 2-3 extra debit cards with other people's names on them. I don't, but could make some nervous. * Aeroplan's fee structure may turn you off - the fuel surcharges can be a bitch. Read more here. Also, Aeroplan/Air Canada's phone support suuuuuucks. Expect 1-2 hour holds. * You can't manufacture status on Air Canada/Star Alliance this way. Would be sweet as hell if you could though. Back to Manufactured Spending